_ _ _ _ _ _
| | | | ___ ___| |_ / \ | |_| | __ _ ___
| |_| |/ _ \/ __| __| / _ \| __| |/ _` / __|
| _ | (_) \__ \ |_ / ___ \ |_| | (_| \__ \
|_| |_|\___/|___/\__/_/ \_\__|_|\__,_|___/
A prettier docker stats for the terminal. CPU sparklines, color-coded
memory progress, Docker-Compose-aware grouping, keyboard-driven sort and
filter. Single binary by HostAtlas, MIT-licensed.
- Real-time stats — CPU, memory, network, block I/O per container
- CPU sparklines — short history per container, so you see trend not just snapshot
- Compose grouping — containers grouped by
com.docker.compose.projectlabel - Sort modes — by CPU, memory, name, or network — switch with one keystroke
- Live filter — type
/and filter on container name, image, or label - Color-coded thresholds — green / amber / red on CPU + memory pressure
- Auto-refresh — configurable interval (1-60 s), defaults to 2 s
- Alt-screen TUI — full screen while running, terminal restored on exit
- Single binary — no daemons, no config files, no Python venv
- Self-update —
dockertop --updatepulls the latest GitHub release
One-liner:
curl -fsSL https://tools.hostatlas.app/install.sh | sh -s dockertopAdd --user for a $HOME/.local/bin install without sudo, or
--version=1.0.0 to pin a specific release.
With Go:
go install github.com/hostatlas-labs/dockertop/cmd/dockertop@latestHomebrew (macOS, Linuxbrew):
brew install hostatlas-labs/tap/dockertopManual: Browse all releases at github.com/hostatlas-labs/dockertop/releases or tools.hostatlas.app.
dockertop # Launch TUI, default sort: cpu, grouped by compose project
dockertop --sort mem # Sort by memory
dockertop --no-group # Flat list, no compose grouping
dockertop --interval 5 # 5-second refresh instead of 2dockertop Launch the TUI
dockertop --sort cpu Sort by CPU (default)
dockertop --sort mem Sort by memory
dockertop --sort name Sort alphabetically
dockertop --sort net Sort by network I/O
dockertop --group Group containers by Compose project (default)
dockertop --no-group Flat list, no grouping
dockertop --interval 2 Refresh every N seconds (1-60, default 2)
dockertop --update Self-update from GitHub releases
dockertop --version Show version
dockertop --help Show all flags
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
s |
Cycle sort mode (cpu → mem → name → net → cpu) |
g |
Toggle Compose grouping on/off |
/ |
Enter filter mode — type to filter, Esc to clear |
↑ / k |
Scroll up |
↓ / j |
Scroll down |
PgUp / PgDn |
Page up / down |
Home / End |
Jump to top / bottom |
q / Ctrl-C |
Quit |
dockertop · web-prod-04 · 12 containers · sort:cpu · group:compose
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
▼ compose: hostatlas-app
nginx CPU 3.2% ▁▂▂▃▅▆▆▄ MEM 48 MiB / 256 MiB ────
php-fpm CPU 41.2% ▃▄▅▇█▇▆▅ MEM 512 MiB / 1.5 GiB ▓▓░░
redis CPU 1.1% ▁▁▁▂▁▁▁▁ MEM 62 MiB / 256 MiB ▒───
postgres CPU 8.4% ▁▁▂▂▃▃▃▂ MEM 2.1 GiB / 4 GiB ▓▓▓░
▼ compose: monitoring
prometheus CPU 2.1% ▁▂▁▁▁▁▁▁ MEM 412 MiB / 1 GiB ▓▒──
grafana CPU 0.8% ▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁ MEM 180 MiB / 512 MiB ▓───
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
s sort g group / filter ↑↓ scroll q quit
dockertop has no config file. Every option is a CLI flag. To stick with your preferred defaults, wrap it in a shell alias:
# ~/.bashrc / ~/.zshrc
alias dt='dockertop --sort mem --interval 5'dockertop talks to the Docker daemon over the standard socket at
/var/run/docker.sock (Linux) or ~/.docker/run/docker.sock (Docker
Desktop on macOS). The user running dockertop must be a member of the
docker group (Linux) or have Docker Desktop running (macOS).
For remote Docker daemons, point DOCKER_HOST at the remote socket:
DOCKER_HOST=ssh://user@remote-host dockertop
DOCKER_HOST=tcp://192.168.1.10:2376 dockertopdockertop auto-detects Podman when the Docker socket isn't available but the Podman socket is. Same UI, same keys, same sparklines. Tested with rootless Podman 4.x+.
# Enable Podman's user socket
systemctl --user enable --now podman.socket
# Then just run
dockertop# In another tab while you `helm upgrade` / `docker compose up`
dockertop --sort cpu --interval 1CPU sparklines make it obvious which container is doing the work after a rollout.
dockertop --sort mem
# Top of the list is the answer.dockertop
# Then press / and type: myapp| dockertop | docker stats |
ctop | lazydocker | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sparklines | ✓ | — | — | partial |
| Compose grouping | ✓ | — | — | ✓ |
| Sort + live filter | ✓ | — | partial | ✓ |
| Alt-screen, restores terminal | ✓ | — | ✓ | ✓ |
| Single binary, no deps | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Podman auto-detect | ✓ | — | partial | partial |
docker stats is the baseline; dockertop is what you reach for when you
want to actually look at the numbers. ctop is a great alternative — we
just wanted something with real sparklines and Compose grouping.
Does it modify or restart my containers?
No. dockertop is read-only — it streams stats and renders them. It never
sends restart, stop, kill, or exec. (Action keys may land in a
future major version; they're not in v0.7.)
Why not call it htop for Docker?
htop is for processes on a host. dockertop is for containers across one or
more Docker / Podman daemons. Same vibe, different scope.
Does it work with Docker Swarm?
It shows containers that the local daemon sees. For a multi-node Swarm
view, point DOCKER_HOST at each node and run an instance per node, or
use docker stack ps for the per-service view.
Multi-host? Currently single-daemon per invocation. Multi-host is roadmap. For now run an instance per host (one terminal pane each, tmux works well).
License? MIT. Fork, modify, sell, anything. See LICENSE.
The user running dockertop isn't in the docker group, or the daemon
isn't running, or you're on macOS without Docker Desktop running. Fix:
# Linux
sudo usermod -aG docker $USER
newgrp docker
# macOS
open -a DockerYour terminal doesn't render the Unicode block characters used for
sparklines (▁ ▂ ▃ ▄ ▅ ▆ ▇ █). Use a modern terminal (iTerm2, Alacritty,
WezTerm, Kitty, GNOME Terminal, Windows Terminal). PuTTY and basic xterm
will show boxes instead.
Drop to --interval 1 (max sample rate) or up to --interval 5 (less
chatty). Docker stats sampling is rate-limited by the daemon itself, so
sub-second intervals don't actually deliver more data.
Run export TERM=xterm-256color and retry. Bubbletea (the underlying TUI
library) requires a recognisable TERM value.
git clone https://github.com/hostatlas-labs/dockertop.git
cd dockertop
go build -o dockertop ./cmd/dockertopGo 1.22+ required.
dockertop --updatePulls the latest GitHub release, verifies the signature, replaces the binary in place.
DockerTop is primarily maintained by the source control team at HostAtlas Technologies LLC. Please submit a GitHub Issue to report any trouble.
MIT — see LICENSE.
Built by HostAtlas — HostAtlas Technologies LLC, an Akyros Labs brand.
www.hostatlas.app · hello@hostatlas.app